After the Key
by B Minor Harmonic
Summary: Set 1000 years in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**Isabel**

"You'll take care of yourself, right?" Arkarian whispers in my ear, enveloping me in his arms. We're preparing for our first battle against the new Order of Chaos. After all these decades, our complacency has finally been dissolved. A new leader has emerged to head the Order, and rumour has it that she is the child of Lathenia and Marduke. She has taken it upon herself to continue her mother's legacy and has built up a following of many thousands. She has declared war on the Guard.

I look into Arkarian's eyes. They are creased with worry. We got married when I turned 18, and our life together has been filled with bliss and happiness. Will today be the last of these blessed days? No. I refuse to think so. The Guard will triumph again, and we shall be reunited. I grip Arkarian through his chainmail, and place a kiss on his cheek.

"I promise. I'll see you tonight."

We go our separate ways, but I can feel his eyes lingering on me. He is worried that I'll lose the child that I've been carrying for the last few weeks. Preparing for a baby has been difficult for us. At first we had been convinced that we would never be able to have children, because the pain of watching them grow old and die would be too much. I took all the precautions to make sure it never happened, guarding my body through my healing skills. Then one day, as I was inspecting the barriers I'd erected in my womb, I felt it. It was the tiniest flutter of life inside me, but it was there all the same. Despite all odds, the seed had implanted itself and was now growing in me. It was the most terrifying thing ever to happen to me. I was so unprepared for a child, no matter how much I loved its father. It had seemed to me that our life was complete already. I was ready to give up all the things that came with a normal life for Arkarian.

To me, I made my life-changing decision at the age of 16. I could either be with Arkarian and only him, or marry a normal man I had yet to meet in the world and have a family with this stranger. Children had never been a part of my plan with Arkarian. I knew that when I accepted his father's gift of agelessness. And I had been prepared. Arkarian was already enough for me. He filled my whole day and made me complete. We would hang out as he watched the sphere during the day and I never felt anything was missing. When I was needed in the healing chambers in the Citadel, or he was meeting with the tribunal, I'd miss him and be impatient to get back to him.

When I found out I was pregnant with his child, my world was thrown off balance. There was suddenly a third person to think of all the time. It was no longer just me and Arkarian. I had to share Arkarian with this intruder, and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle it. I panicked; I wasn't sure if I wanted a child and I was prepared to remove it from my body if Arkarian felt the same way. And I was sure he would. He was the one that suggested we never have a family in the first place. He explained that he'd already witnessed so much death in his lifetime that he couldn't bear watching it happen to someone he truly loved. He'd watched each of his countless apprentices lose their youth and blithness, develop lines in their faces, become bent and cumbersome with age. He had watched as each of them slowly loosened their grasp on life, as their souls left their bodies and they expired. To witness it happening to his own child, when he himself couldn't be part of that cycle, would have destroyed him. He didn't want to be like Shaun and Laura and have to outlive his child.

Little could I imagine how wrong my assumptions were. When I told him of the life growing inside me, Arkarian was shocked, yes. He questioned how it happened. We had been so careful. But after the initial shock, I saw how happy he actually was. I hadn't seen him so overjoyed, ever. He told me how excited he was that I was going to be carrying a piece of him everywhere I went for the next 9 months, a thought that made me flush with pleasure. It was as if he'd suddenly forgotten all the complications he'd anticipated would come with a child, and when I reminded him of them, he told me that none of it mattered any more. We were going to have a baby and that was all the mattered anymore. When I saw his excitement I couldn't help but feel the same way, and I suddenly realised that this was what I wanted. I didn't need to choose between Arkarian or a family of my own. I could have both and this realisation sent tingles all the way down my spine and my toes.

Before I knew it, Arkarian was no longer the only center of my world. There was suddenly someone else next to him. My sky had two suns instead of one. I hadn't met my baby yet, but I already loved it as much as I loved Arkarian, something I'd never thought possible. I thought my heart would burst from this sudden augmentation of my feelings. I couldn't wait for us to be a family together. I couldn't wait to hold our baby, to feed it and to share Arkarian with it. Yes, I couldn't wait to do the very thing I had been afraid of. I would no longer receive Arkarian's undivided attention, and I was so excited. This baby was going to be physical evidence of our love. It was literally _us_. After all these years, I finally realised that my life wasn't complete at all. It had been missing a huge chunk without me ever realising.


	2. Chapter 2

**Arkarian**

The battle becomes increasingly difficult to control. I fear that we have been caught off guard, allowed to soften through these years of complacency. This is the first time the new Order has attacked us; up to now we had only had an inkling that there was a force of evil regathering and attempting to gain control - we had no real idea how large their armies would be and how effective their strategies would be. I worry for my newly trained apprentice. Claudia is both a skilled warrior and healer, but she has never fought without the protection that comes with defending the past. This time her identity is not disguised by a separate body. She cannot simply call my name and be transported to the Citadel if something goes wrong.

I battle with a soldier whose face is hidden by the visor of his helmet. He is masterful and I wonder if perhaps after almost two thousand years I have finally met my match. We fight harshly, our swords clashing and clanging as I try to hold my ground. I think I glimpse a smirk through his visor, as if he believes he has already won. He lunges, and I parry to block. Alarm bells begin ringing in the back of my mind as I discover myself losing ground. He is pushing me deeper into the trees, away from the main battle.

"You cannot win, Arkarian."

I gasp as I realise that my opponent is in fact female - one who knows my name. For a moment this shocks me and I wonder at her status in the Order.

"Your father killed my mother. And now I shall have the honour of killing you." With these words she swiftly disarms me with a flick of her wrist, catching my sword as it flies through the air.

"_Matt, come quick!_" Unarmed, I attempt to harness the power inside me that was given to me by my father. If I could just find the light I will be able to bind her until Matt arrives. But she attacks me with both her weapon and mine, so that I am distracted by the act of dodging her blows. I understand her actions. She works to tire me out until I lose my agility. Then she will deliver the final blow. Here is the woman that has been trained by the goddess herself to continue her work. How vigorous must her training have been? Her entire life's purpose has been to destroy the Guard. It is her sole focus. Lathenia must have known that her chance of victory was slim, and when she was unable to alter the prophesy through her actions she must have decided to allow it to play out, then strike again from beyond the grave when we were least expecting it.

I hear footsteps approaching, crashing through the trees. It's Matt! I breathe a sense of relief. Not only have I engaged the female's attention, I also have back up from one of the only two people in the Guard with the ability to truly destroy an immortal. She also realises this, and with a panicked widening of her eyes, backs me up against a tree and swings both swords at once. I jump, aiming to clear them together, only for her to cut both my sides. The sharp pain blinds me for a second and causes me to stumble, before I feel the same burn in my chest. A glint of silver. Spots of red fly through the air.

"Arkarian!" Matt calls through the trees. I crumple to the ground, only for her to drive my sword into my stomach. I can't help but stare at the hilt that I've held in my palm for centuries as it glints before my eyes, red instead of the usual gold. The woman scurries away, leaving me alone on the forest floor just as Matt reaches the clearing with Claudia.

Claudia takes me in her arms and assesses the wounds the woman delivered. Her eyes are wide and frantic, and I know that she doesn't yet have the skill needed to heal these injuries.

"Isabel," She hisses. "Where is Isabel?"

"She's guarding Veridian. I'll find her. You stay with Arkarian and do what you can." And with these words Matt transforms into a cheetah, sprinting gracefully through the trees.

"It's going to be alright. I'm going to heal you. Just hang on." I can do nothing but nod grimly as I feel a mixture of bile and blood entering my mouth. Claudia fumbles with my helmet as my chest seizes and pushes the globule out of my mouth. I feel it slide down my chin and gather at my collar. Claudia lies me down on the ground and wipes at my mouth with her sleeve. She peels my armour away, leaving the sword in my stomach to staunch the bleeding. She tentatively places her hands on my chest and gasps when she sees just how deep the wound is. I catch a glimpse of her thoughts. My heart is gaping, soaking my shirt with blood, pasting it to my skin.

For the first time in my life I realise how beautiful the sky is. Today it is cloudless and bright, the sun shining surrealy down at us. I grimace as it begins to hurt my eyes and feel that it is mocking me. Spots begin to appear before my vision and I tremble before the master of the universe. I manage to detach myself from the pain, focusing instead on this great being that was here eons before my birth, and will continue to rule millenia after my death. It seems like an age goes by, where I look up at the warmth, and it comforts me like my father never could.

"Give him to me! Oh my god, give him to me!" It's Isabel, her voice high pitched as it often is when she is distraught. I can't help but wince as it pierces my ears. I want to tell her to be quiet. There is no need to shout. The sun is calm. Why couldn't she be too? She cradles me in her arms, taking over from Claudia's less skillful work. Her face blocks my view of the sky and brings me back to Earth. I smile at the feel of her familiar embrace. "Isabel. I'm so glad you're here."

"Yes, baby, I'm here now," She gasps at me frantically. She looks up and screams at Matt, "What are you doing? Go! Go to the Citadel and get him some blood! Claudia, you stay and help me." I snuggle my face into the crook of her arm, relishing in her warmth. When did it get so cold? I'm shivering and can't seem to think straight. My mind keeps wandering to happier times. Our first kiss in the Underworld, the day our love for each other was proclaimed. Our wedding day, when we were intimate with each other like never before. Isabel grinning with joy at the news that we were going to have a baby.

"I love you so much, Isabel." I can't seem to raise my voice above a whisper. My words are slurred and my tongue weighs a tonne in my mouth. My eyelids feel heavy and the light of the day is really starting to hurt my eyes. Isabel notices me shutting my eyes and urges me, "Stay awake. Please. Just hold on a little while longer."

"I love you so much," I repeat. I've stopped feeling the pain now, and have managed to control my breathing and the shakes that were possessing my body when the temperature first dropped. I suddenly feel the need to pour my heart out to her. In the back of my mind I panic that I won't be able to tell her everything's that been on my mind for the thousand years we've been married. It is suddenly imperative that I tell her before I fall asleep. I feel so tired. "You gave me everything, and there's so much that I never gave to you."

"No. No. Stop this." I hear the hysteria in her voice. She never managed to control her emotions under pressure. I lift my arm against the weight tying it to the ground and place my hand over hers on my chest, intertwining our fingers awkwardly.

"You deserved so much more that I had, Isabel. I'm so glad we're having a baby together." Her hand tightens its hold on my shirt and I try to calm her as I have been doing for the millenium we have been together. She heaves as she begins to weep gently. "I was always afraid you'd leave me for someone else. I was always afraid you'd change your mind and grow tired of me. There were so many other boys at school and in the Guard. I was always jealous of Ethan because he could be with you all the time and never had to hide away in the dark."

"No." Isabel wails. "I never regretted a day. You were all I ever wanted and I never spared a thought for all of them. I've healed you before and I'm going to do it again."

"You're the best healer in the history of the Guard. And you did well. But not even you can heal me now, Isabel." My eyelids feel so heavy. All I want to do is fall asleep and wake up in our bed at home. Isabel cries and shakes me vigorously. My voice sticks to my throat. "Don't cry. I've given you a baby now, haven't I? It's what you always wanted, no matter how you refused to admit it."

"I want you so much more. Please, Arkarian. Just stay with me. Matt will be back soon. You'll get your strength back, I promise." Isabel squeezed my arm in an attempt to keep me awake, when all I want to do is snuggle up to her and nap for a while. I groan as more bile enters my mouth, and she wipes at my face with her sleeve. She is shaking. In the back of my mind I feel that our roles should be reversed. I should be holding her as I have done so many times in the past. I think back to the passing of each of the named, and how she had mourned the loss of each of our friends. I had held her close as she experienced the pain - as she realised that she could not be part of that cycle.

I am so tired.


	3. Chapter 3

**Isabel**

My heart freezes as Arkarian stills in my arms. Beneath my hand his chest ceases to rise and his cells stop responing to the healing I am directing at them. Matt leaps to my side and drops three bags of crimson fluid on the ground. But it is too late. Arkarian is curled in my embrace, his face creaseless like the day I first met him. He looks so peaceful for someone who has just died a painful death, like a child who is sleeping in his mother's arms. I've attended to many wounded soldiers in my time with the Guard. Most of them have cried or screamed at the unbearable pain, calling out to their distant mothers and unhearing deities.

How will I breathe without my soul mate beside me? Arkarian was the love of my life and I have grown accustomed to his warmth beside me at night. I feel the hole gaping in my chest. I gave my whole heart to him and now he has taken it with him to a place I cannot go. Half a soul is not enough to survive. I feel so empty. The ache hurts so much that all I want to do is curl up beside him.

I press my lips to his forehead and nuzzle in his damp, matted hair - so unlike its usual silkiness. It shines dully in the light filtering through the trees, and I am reminded once more of the life that has left him. I grip his body and can't help but beg him to _come back to me_. Matt clasps my shoulder as I suddenly realise that I'm never going to feel Arkarian's warmth again. He will never look at me with the beautiful eyes that have captivated me from my youth, or hold me as we sit beside the fire, or kiss the tips of my fingers after we make love. I will never feel the sheer power that is him beneath my hands, or watch him frown as he ponders over his latest assignment from the tribunal.

I scream at the emptiness he has left me with. Arkarian has filled so much of me for so long that I cannot live with this void he has given me. I shake uncontrollably as Matt holds me and feel the sadness radiating from him. Arkarian was the one that had faith in him from the very beginning, when none of us did. He showed him how to lead the Named, and continued to guide him after he assumed his role. I think back to the day Lorian died. Arkarian, the mighty warrior descended from the immortal himself, had bowed before my brother with the Tribunal, each of them offering their eternal loyalty and devotion, promising to serve him for the rest of their lives. He was always my angel, so meek and submissive, willing to serve the young and inexperienced boy beside me now. He always had the utmost belief in Matt, who I know wouldn't be half the man he is today without Arkarian's guidance.

"He'll be waiting for you, Isabel." Matt comforts me as I rock with Arkarian in my arms. His body is still filled with warmth, but I know that soon the last of it will leave, along with all of my life and joy. Matt frowns and tightens his grip on me. "Don't think that. Arkarian loved you because he admired your ability to be happy when things weren't perfect, and you made him happy in turn. He was drawn to the strength and light of your soul, Isabel. You can't lose that now."

All I can do is shrug him away and draw Arkarian's still, lifeless body to mine. I cry out to the heavens. Why would the gods take him away from me? Why now, just as we are finally about to start our family? Why couldn't he take care of himself? Why did he have to meet his match now? Matt hears my thoughts and peers at me, bemused.

"Y-you're pregnant?" His frown deepens at my expression. Then he pulls me to him against my struggles. I feel the numbness coursing through my body. The sensation is so akin to Arkarian's gift, which he would use to soothe me whenever I am upset, but twisted and warped. Whereas Arkarian's was a bubbly, warm sensation that would comfort and satisfy me, Matt's power makes me feel anesthesised and torpid. It clouds my mind like a fog, blocking the part of my brain that is responsible for logical thinking. "Perhaps it would be best if you stayed with Neriah and me for a while," Matt murmurs in my ear. I strain against him. I don't want to stay in their home in Athens, with its excessive marble decor and cold interior. I want to be at home where I belong, in the house that I've lived with Arkarian since we married. I want to sleep in our bed and breathe in Arkarian's scent. I want to surround myself with everything that belonged to him and fool myself into believing that he is next to me. Matt constrains me. "Then perhaps Neriah could stay with you for a few weeks. Just to make sure you eat properly and don't do anything silly."

I turn away from Matt and look back at Arkarian. What wouldn't I give to be enveloped in his loving arms again. What wouldn't I give just to feel his fingers tighten around mine, to see the flush return to his cheeks. I etch his face into my memory in the knowledge that the tendrils of his soul are still lingering in the air. I caress his cheek gently with my thumb, tracing the salt lines running down his face. His skin is already beginning to stiffen and feels chilled to the touch. I wallow in my misery, unwilling to do anything but lay on the ground and weep. The grief is all-consuming, and I fear that my tears will never stop. My sobs fill the whole forest despite the numbness Matt continues to direct at me. Around me I am vaguely aware of eyes fixed on us.

A soldier marches up to Matt and makes his announcement. "My lord, the enemy has retreated. We have held up against their forces and defended our lands. The troops are now awaiting your next orders."

Matt frowns and glances down at me with his best soldier in my arms. He stands and addresses the crowd gathered around the clearing. I see the fear reflected in their eyes: without Arkarian we are lost. "Today was a tragic day for the Guard. We have lost one of our strongest and wisest soldiers, one who fought against the original Order of Chaos alongside the Named. Soon we shall hunt down the evil that has been released into our realm and destroy it for good, but now it is time for all of us to mourn. Go now, and make your preparations. The Tribunal will meet at sunset to decide on the best course of action. We will summon you when our plans are finalised."

Without a murmur, the crowd disperses with down-cast eyes.


End file.
